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Two from Pa. arrested on drug charges
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
When he is finished with the legal process, it is probably a safe bet that Ryan Kulcsar will not be a visitor to the city anytime soon, if ever.
He said as much Monday during his video arraignment in municipal court from the Mahoning County jail, where the Warren, Pa., resident spent the weekend after being arrested Friday on a charge of possession of crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia.
Magistrate Anthony Sertick asked Kulcsar, 28, what brought him and the woman he was arrested with, Dakota Gardiner, also 28, to Youngstown from western Pennsylvania in the first place.
Kulcsar said he never should have left the house.
“We should’ve stayed home, your honor,” Kulcsar said. “It’s horrible. I’m very sorry I decided to make the trip.”
At times during his arraignment it appeared Kulcsar was on the verge of tears. Assistant City Prosecutor Jeffrey Moliterno said neither Kulscar or Gardiner have prior criminal records.
The two were in a car that Kulscar was driving that was pulled over about 7:45 p.m. Friday on Williamson Avenue near South Avenue on the South Side for an improper turn. Reports said vice officers Frank Bigowsky and James Welch saw the pair fidgeting in the car as they walked up to it, and when they looked inside, they found a bag of suspected crack cocaine by the driver’s door.
The officers searched Kulscar after he was taken out of the car and they found a crack pipe, reports said.
In Gardiner’s lap was a bag of suspected crack cocaine. Gardiner told officers she had more suspected crack and a crack pipe on her. When she was booked into the jail, a female deputy found the pipe and five bags of suspected crack cocaine, reports said.
Reports said Gardiner had more than $370 cash on her, and Kulcsar had more than $90, reports said.
Both are charged with possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Sertick set their bonds at $3,500 each.
Also arraigned on a charge of possession of cocaine was Leslie Jackson, 35, of East Philadelphia Avenue, who reports from police at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital said came into the emergency room at 1 p.m. Saturday saying she had bugs under her skin before collapsing on the floor.
When she fell, an officer found a bag of suspected crack cocaine and a bag of suspected marijuana was found in her purse, reports said.
Sertick set Jackson’s bond also set at $3,500.